Many schools are back in session this month and the Hawaiʻi Homeless Outreach and Medical Education (HOME) Project at the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) Medical School has once again, stepped up to the challenge of helping to obtain school supplies for those who cannot readily afford it. The Hawaiʻi HOME Project sponsored a school supply drive for approximately 400 children in need. Backpacks full of school-related items and financial donations poured in from the community including members of the Elks Club in Waikiki, the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset Chapter as well as John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) faculty, staff and students.

Day 1 of packing school supplies in the JABSOM library. Michael McNulty photo.

Volunteers, including JABSOM students, meticulously packed the school bags to make sure each school supply item was accounted for and distributed them to residents among several homeless shelters in the Honolulu, Kalaeloa, Māʻili and Waiʻanae areas.